As an Instructional Technologist (IT), I worked closely with faculty, staff, and students, to act as a change-agent in demonstrating an understanding of the potential to reshape teaching and learning.
Below is a summary of the responsibilities my role included:
In the Instructional Technologist office…
My day to day tasks included not only working with the faculty, staff, and students, but also working on improving our in house website(s), tutorials and guides, as well as brainstorm with the team how we can be proactive in reaching out to our stakeholders. We provided trainings on various technologies and tools including, but not limited to: Canvas, Blackboard, Kaltura, Foliotek, WordPress, Microsoft Office Suite, iMovie, and Adobe Photoshop.
Additionally, I was tasked with managing the Foliotek (ePortfolio) initiative, with the help of my wonderful team. It was a challenging task, but one that was rewarding as I was able to establish good relationships with various faculty, staff, and students for this initiative. Lastly, we tried to incorporate research days that were used to research a number of different topics of interest or that we may have been already working on. Some of these topics include: SoundCite JS: An Inline Audio Player Solution, A Digital Notebook: OneNote, Foliotek: An ePortfolio Tool, and Blackboard Tests and Pools.
With the faculty…
As an instructional technologist, I was one of the primary points of contact for faculty members as it related to Canvas related support or any specific or general Instructional Technology questions. Faculty and I would brainstorm ideas on how to improve their courses for mixed mode delivery, or how we can fine tune an assignment to give it further meaning and purpose. Additionally, it was important for us in our discussions to acknowledge that although technology was helpful in many instances, it was not always the solution. Sometimes, a simple solution was the best solution for that particular class. We also offered Blended Certification, Course Redesign Initiative, and FITI grants.
With the staff…
Being part of the Information Technology department meant we were able to have a strong relationship with our IT department, including the software developers as well as our phenomenal help desk support team. They would help us test classroom systems such as video/lecture capture tools using WebEx as well as the Crestron system. We also offered Afternoon Workshops on various technologies and pedagogical implementations. These workshops were open to faculty/staff and had a presentation and hands-on component.
With the students…
Student collaboration was important during the learning management system migration from Blackboard to Canvas. During the planning phase, various scenarios were projected, but if there were any issues that arose we were available to support our students. The first level of support was the Help Desk. We worked closely with faculty to do a needs assessment so we can develop classroom trainings, we were the point of contact for support and any questions they have related to course specific projects or assignments. We would meet with students via the IT help desk, individually, or support them via phone or email, but we were always ready to help at a moments notice.
In the end…
Our campus had both PC and MAC labs and our users were a mix of both systems. To be an expert in the field, I chose the option to have access to both a PC and a Macbook Pro. Collaboration was imperative and very helpful as we would share with each other helpful findings so when we did come across a question that faculty, staff, or students were boggled by, we were there to help. Another helpful step in the process was to develop training solutions as repeat issues usually mean other users may have similar issues they may need assistance with.